As most of you know - I am huge advocate of knowledge cafés. I run my
own in London every 6-8 weeks and for organizations too. In the last
year I have also run several at conferences for Professor Dan Remenyi.

Dan liked the cafe format so much that he has produced a 30 minute
DVD in which he interviews me about the knowledge cafe concept.

The DVD explains the benefits of a knowledge cafe and how to run your
own. It consists of two sections one of which is the conversation
between myself and Dan and the second, a series of slides, which may
be used as a briefing before holding a knowledge-café.

If there is one thing you do in response to this newsletter - take a
look at Theodore Zeldin's recently updated Oxford Muse website.

Apart from being a stunning site (the art is all Theodore's work)
with some amazing thoughts and ideas - what I love are the muse
self-portraits. Take a look at the one by Alan Human - not quite what
you would expect from a "down and out".

The self-portraits remind me of the material found on some of the
better weblogs - they provide a deep insight into the person writing
the blog or the self-portrait and at the same time a clearer insight
into humanity. I think it would be interesting if every blogger wrote
a Theodore Zeldin style self-portrait that was posted prominently on
their weblog as a way to introduce themselves! Better still we
should all have one :-)
Oxford Muse:http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X0040EF96?open&r=3&p=0

The role of technology in KM is a controversial one. Dave Snowden
talks of techno-fetishists and fluffy-bunnies - the techno-fetishists
claim that technology is the foundation of KM whilst the
fluffy-bunnies cry "Oh no - its all about people!" Which is true?
Just what is the role of technology in KM? Are you a techno-fetishist
or a fluffy-bunny or maybe you are a techno-bunny!

Butterworth-Heinemann have one of the best KM book collections around
with titles from Stephen Denning, Verna Allee and more.

I have three of their recent publications sitting on my book shelf:
"Winning the Knowledge Game" by Alastair Ryatt, "Making Sense of
Intellectual Capital" by Daniel Andriessen and "Introduction to
Knowledge Management" by Todd R. Groff and Thomas P. Jones.

If you are interested in the status of KM and its role in small and
medium enterprises in Singapore and the factors that contribute to
the successful implementation of knowledge management in Singapore
then this KM Research Report from Dr. Sattar Bawany may be of
interest to you.

If you attended my organizational complexity conference last week or
even if you didn't you can find the presentations and materials
available for download on my website (not quite all there yet but
soon will be)

Matt Mower blogged the event and his notes will be posted soon. In
the mean time here are some photos he took: (thanks Matt!)

Although the day went exceedingly well, it started with a hiccup, as
Dave Snowden was not able to make the event in person due to personal
problems. However, Dave being Dave, he delivered his presentation
from his mobile phone sitting in a car somewhere in Birmingham!! It
worked amazingly well :-) So a big thank-you to Dave.
Download Center:http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00005BBE?open&p=0

One of my favorite sites for stimulating my thinking about the future
is Long Bets.

Here is one of the predictions from Gregory W. Webster:

"By 2020 a wearable device will be available that will use voice
recognition capability and high-volume storage to monitor and index
conversations you have or conversations which occur in your vicinity
for later searching as supplemental memory"

"Even in the best of times, it's a battle to convince employees to
participate in knowledge management programs. But in tough times, the
tendency is for employees to horde what they know. Here's how some
companies convinced individuals to share best practices"

This is an interesting article in CIO Magazine from December last
2003.

My website now contains such a comprehensive listing of knowledge
related events that it is no longer possible to display them in this
knowledge-letter. The list below only shows major events or ones of
special interest that will be held in the next 3 months. You can see
the complete list on my website by following the Gurteen-Knowledge
Calendar link below.
Gurteen-Knowledge Calendar:http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X000033AE?open&p=0

The Gurteen Knowledge-Letter is a free monthly e-mail based knowledge
management newsletter for Knowledge Workers. Its purpose is to help
you better manage your knowledge and to stimulate thought and
interest in such subjects as Knowledge Management, Learning,
Creativity and the effective use of Internet technology. It is
produced in association with the Knowledge Management Forum of Henley
Management College, Oxfordshire, England
(http://www.henleymc.ac.uk/kmforum)

You may copy, reprint or forward all or part of this newsletter to
friends, colleagues or customers, so long as any use is not for
resale or profit and the following copyright notice is included
intact: "Copyright 2004, David Gurteen, All rights reserved."

David Gurteen
Gurteen Knowledge
Fleet, United Kingdom

If you are interested in Knowledge Management, the
Knowledge Café
Knowledge Café
or the role of conversation in organizational life then you my be interested in this online book I am writing on
Conversational Leadership

David Gurteen

I help people to share their knowledge; to learn from each other; to innovate and to work together effectively to make a difference!

The Gurteen Knowledge Community is a global learning community
of over 21,000 people in 160 countries across the world.

The community is for people who are committed to making a difference:
people who wish to share and learn from each other and who strive to see
the world differently, think differently and act differently.